Aurangabad civic body to reclaim 299 commercial properties

Located at prime locations in different parts of the city, these key sources of revenue have allegedly not been reaching the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) due to vested interestsPrasad Joshi | TNN | August 14, 2017, 14:30 IST

AURANGABAD: The cash-strapped civic body has served three-day ultimatum on Sunday to as many as 299 tenants for vacating the civic body owned commercial establishments over different irregularities.

Located at prime locations in different parts of the city, these key sources of revenue have allegedly not been reaching the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) due to vested interests, prompting the civic body to invoke stern action to contain revenue loss running into crores of rupees per month.

In a notice issued on Sunday, municipal commissioner D M Muglikar has cautioned concerned tenants to vacate the commercial establishments of the local civic body within three-days, failing legitimate action will be initiated.

“Several commercial establishments of AMC have become private properties of some influential locals. A major chunk of these properties continue to be occupied despite expiry of rent agreement. Some tenants have further rented property to third-party in violation of rules, while many others have been using these key spaces without entering into formal agreement. There are tenants who have not paid dues for a long time,” AMC authorities said.

Several commercial establishments located at Nijomaddin Durgah Road, Jafar Gate, Peer Baajar, railway station and Sabji-mandi area continue to be occupied by the tenants even after the expiry of rent agreement.

Some of these properties located at Nath Super market (ground floor and first floor), Peer Baajar, Sant Gadge baba complex, Bholeshwar complex, Piya complex (ground floor and first floor), Kabadipura, Lota Karanja and Nehru Bhavan are rented out to a third-party further violating the rules.

BJP corporator Raju Shinde said the action against errant tenants, occupying commercial establishments of AMC, has been long due.

“The commercial establishments, if managed properly, can fetch revenue running into several crores for the local civic body. However, these key revenue sources were neglected due to political pressure. The AMC should not only get these properties vacated, but must also issue fresh guidelines for its use in the future,” he said.

While issuing a three-day ultimatum to tenants, the civic body has also mentioned about several reminders that it has sent from time-to-time regarding payment of rent.

MIM leader Firoz Khan alleged that a few of AMC establishments in question have been already been sold by tenants. “As the civic body has not paid desired attention, few tenants even dared to sell the establishments originally owned by AMC. The issue has become highly complex to deal with now and we hope that the civic administration takes effective steps to resolve it in the best interest of the city,” he said.

While proposing Rs 950 crore budget for Aurangabad in 2017-18, the civic administration had emphasised the need of revenue generation through different means. “Besides focussing on recovery of property tax and water tax, the revenue generated from commercial establishments is expected to prove immensely useful for the AMC in providing basic civic amenities and infrastructure,” civic authorities said.

Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.